


Exhale and Breathe Again

by FBIEpidemic



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark has a heart attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-08
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-24 07:39:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17700323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FBIEpidemic/pseuds/FBIEpidemic
Summary: Peter tries to push himself away from Tony.Tony has a heart attack.Peter learns to breathe again.





	Exhale and Breathe Again

Scars, Peter understands. He’s got his own. Some are accidents from his childhood, the one on his knee is from falling on the playground and obtaining a scab that he kept picking. The one on his arm is from when that building had fallen on him, scratching him pretty well. He keeps that one hidden. It hurts to see it and it hurts Mr. Stark and Aunt May just as much. A reminder of failures and his youth. 

Chronic injuries, the medicine, the things that other heroes understand because they’re not sixteen-year-old kids who have powers and are just learning why they’re doing this.

Because as Peter spends more time doing this he understands that he’s displacing by saying it’s because of Ben.

It’s a curve and it’s hard. 

_“You haven’t been to see Tony all week.”_

May helps where heroes can’t. 

It’s just that every time he closes his eyes he sees the X-Rays. He’s standing in the garage, nausea making him want to run away, and Tony’s trying desperately to get what he needs to say over with. 

_“It can just stop. Fail and then you just leave? Sorry, it’s just… all this, it’s just inevitable? Your heart is going to stop and you’re gonna leave me with some dumb blueprints for a suit and another missing person at Aunt May’s holiday parties?”_

Tony had stood so still. Afraid, not of death but for Peter. Because he’s a kid and Tony just keeps selfishly adding to the list of people he’s going to hurt. 

_“I don’t know. Pete. Maybe-Probably.”_

So, Peter strayed. He thought that would get him farther from Tony, a chance to wrap his mind around his da-mentor’s mortality. Instead, May leaves for the grave shift and reminds him, with a kiss to the cheek, to call or text Tony. Or May brings his laundry up and reminds him that he’s been harboring three of Tony’s shirts for a month and that now there’s a pair of his sweatpants at their house.

Peter tries to push it all from his mind. 

He just… He can't look Tony in the eye. They share the 'garage’ anyways.

It’s his fault. 

“Sir, you’re experiencing early signs of a-”

“No more, Fri.”

Peter turns in his chair, letting the rolling office chair do the work for him as he turns to fix Tony with a curious gaze. He hadn’t been paying attention, chemistry equations waiting to be balanced were his prominent source of work for the day. So whatever Tony was tinkering with or fixing were background noise.

Tony didn’t pay Peter any mind, instead seeming to place all of his attention on flattening his left hand out on the table before him.

A part of Peter thought it would be good to ask Tony if he was okay but Peter had done that and it never played out well. Tony has issues and Peter can’t really help with them.

He certainly wishes he had thought when he hears Tony groan in pain and fall to the floor.

His back was to Tony, he’d spun back around to glare dumbly at the word chloride written on his paper. 

Captain America taught him to perform CPR which was really weird when Peter had to come home and face Steve when the man’s voice was still stuck in his head chanting a timely rhythm for compressions.

He’d only ever seen it done once. It wasn’t fun.

It was a kid, younger than him, who had been in a building when it collapsed. That day was awful but the kid survived. They never talk about it but he knows that he played a heavy role that day too. The kid might not be alive today if it weren’t for Mr. Stark taking him in.

Truth be told, they might have given up on the kid but it’s hard to do that when there’s also a curly haired, light brown haired kid waiting for you at home. And the kid looked exactly like Peter.

“Peter, you need to perform CPR on sir.”

Peter stands over Tony. The lines of his mentor’s face are pale and sweaty. His hands limp by his sides, his feet drawn up from where he’d fallen. 

“He’s having a heart attack, Peter.”

Peter nods, he knows. He should have said something, too. This is his fault. He knew. He saw. He knew and that’s on him.

“I-I… I’m gonna hurt him, Fri.”

There are tears streaming down Peter’s face and he doesn't realize it until one falls on to Tony’s shirt. Making the pale grey of his Hans v-neck spread to a dark, wet color.

He takes a deep breath and begins compressions. For a moment, he thinks he’s doing well. It feels right and that’s all he’s got going because in Health they had these dummies but the dummies made clicking noises if you did it right.

“Peter, I have alerted a medical dispatch team. To apply life-saving CPR you’re going to have to press harder. Correct CPR should break ribs, the compressions you are applying are too shallow. Try to move to the left, the ribs there are weaker and should allow you to apply correct CPR compressions.”

Peter does as he’s told. He knows what FRIDAY means because he knows too that the ribs on Tony’s left are weaker. After Tony took the reactor out, he had a fake sternum placed in, and the healing for that had been hell but the ribs on Tony’s left side had never fully healed from the connection to the fake sternum.

The first rib breaks and Peter feels it. 

They just keep breaking and Friday says something but he can’t hear it. 

He can’t hear Tony’s heart. He’s been listening to Tony’ heart for years. At night, when they’re sitting on the couch watching Star Wars when Tony’s whistling and teaching him to cook. It always there, in the back of his mind, and now…

Hands move right next to his, ready to take over the compressions, but he doesn’t move until there are two arms wrapped around his chest and pulled him off. 

And he’s on the floor and all he sees is the smashed coffee cup on the floor. 

He gave it to Tony on Father’s Day, a gag gift. Just some stupid cup to try and make it clear how important Tony is to him even it if it’s just a mug that says ‘World’s Okayest Dad’ in blue and red writing. 

But now it’s on the ground, smashed to a million pieces and-

“Where’s Tony?” His heart races, he’s gone. Tony’s gone. 

 

Tony’s right leg just hanging off the side of his bed, the IV in his hand twisted at an angle that has to hurt, and his body twitching with exhaustion. Steve is standing over his bed and part of Peter wants to shout at the man. Because their fight is still fresh in his mind.

Steve is the reason that Peter rationalized the pain in Tony’s left arm. Steve is the one that left Tony with no power in Siberia to freeze to death. The pain in Tony’s hand, it’s chronic. It’s always there. Steve damaged Tony more than he already was.

“He’s stronger than he looks,” Steve mumbles, he sounds sad. His eyes can’t look at Peter and they certainly can’t keep on Tony. He’s guilty.

Peter looks back at Tony and he just knows. 

Panic.

The ragged breaths coming out of Tony’s mouth, his lips pasty white, and the oxygen mask doesn’t seem like it’s helping at all.

“He-” Steve tries to explain but Peter just cuts him off and grabs one of Tony’s hands. 

Tony’s eyes open just a sliver, settle on Peter, and he smiles. He gives Peter’s hand a weak squeeze and Peter tries to push it from his mind that Tony’s hands are weak, cold, and clammy.

“Hey, squirt.” The simple sentence seems to take it out of Tony, leaving his chest to heave harder than already. “Why the long face?”

Peter moves his hand away,” that’s no funny.”

Tony moves, his breath catching and his entire body. Steve steps closer and Peter takes four steps back. “Stop. Pete, don’t go. Don’t go. Just… I need a second.” He mumbles something but it’s hard to hear him under the mask and he needs to keep it on. He has to keep it on. 

When he opens his eyes again, he’s surprised to find Peter sitting beside him. 

Tony had fallen asleep, the pain that moving had caused was too much. 

Steve isn’t in the room but he can’t remember why Steve was with him earlier.

“Are you looking for Steve?” Peter doesn’t look up. He keeps his eyes cast down, scratching at his nails. “He left a couple of minutes ago. The nurses only wanted him in here in case you woke up again. You...uh… You had a panic attack, evidently, you’re a lot stronger than you look.”

Peter sniffles.

“Pete? Pete, look at me.” 

He moves his head, he looks up to the bed. To the blanket covering Tony’s legs. Steve had helped move Tony back on to the bed before he left. Now there’s a nice blue blanket resting just under Tony’s hips. 

“Peter Benjamin Parker,” his voice is soft. “Look at me, Pete. You’re killing me kid.”

That makes Peter’s eyes go wide and he looks up at Tony. Their eyes meet and Peter’s eyes fill with tears. Tony has just enough strength to open his arms and catch Peter as he buries his head in the safety of Tony’s neck. 

“D-Don’t ever, ever do that again.” 

Tony can’t move his arms up to Peter’s back so he puts his head against Peter’s head,” you saved me, Pete. You saved me.”

“I mean it, Tony!” Peter sniffles, wiping his nose on his hand. 

“Right. Right, you’re the boss.”

Peter pushes his head closer to Tony’s neck, closing his eyes and counting Tony’s heartbeat. Once. Twice. It keeps coming and for the first time in a week, Peter can breathe.


End file.
